Hermann's Tortoise

This page is educational reference material for preparing questions. A licensed veterinarian examines the animal, makes the diagnosis, and sets the treatment.

A small tortoise with a long calendar

Hermann's tortoises, Testudo hermanni, top out around 6 to 8 inches and often live 50 to 75 years, sometimes longer. They are beginner animals. That means a weed diet and a simple outdoor pen are learnable. It still means decades of winter housing, vet bills, and somebody named to take the tortoise if you cannot.

They are Mediterranean grazers. Dandelion, plantain, clover, and pesticide-free grass are the menu. Grocery lettuce alone is a watery snack. A cuttlebone or a calcium dusting on the greens covers the shell. Fruit a few times a month is plenty. Keep water shallow so a small tortoise can climb out.

Sun, a dry shell, a humid hide

Outdoor time in safe weather beats any lamp. Indoors they still need UVB, a basking spot in the low 90s, and a cooler end near 70. Humidity is 40 to 60 percent. A constantly soaked table grows fungus. A dry table with no humid hide grows pyramids on a young shell. Offer both: dry ground and one damp retreat.

Eastern Hermann's and western Hermann's differ a little in size and cold tolerance. Buy captive-bred. Wild Mediterranean tortoises are protected. A tortoise that stops eating or gets soft is a trip to a clinic listed by ARAV. Appetite loss in reptiles is covered on the not-eating page.

Hermann's tortoise questions

How long do Hermann's tortoises live?

50 to 75 years or more. A hatchling can still be walking when the person who bought it is old. Plan a will, not a single summer.

Can a Hermann's tortoise eat fruit?

Fruit is a rare treat. The everyday diet is weeds, flowers, and grassy hay. Fruit and pellet-heavy bowls grow pyramided shells.

Should I brumate a Hermann's tortoise?

Only a healthy, well-weight animal, and only after a reptile vet says the gut is empty and the temperatures are safe. A sick tortoise put in a cold box often does not wake up.